homeland security

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Obama Gets First Report on Detroit Terror Attempt

Prez gets answers to how Abdulmutallab boarded plane

(Newser) - As a first step in his effort to overhaul intelligence practices, President Obama will today receive a preliminary report on how exactly the Detroit bombing suspect managed to board a US-bound plane, along with recommendations on how to prevent a sequel. The reams of intelligence data that were combed through...

Rocket Scientists See Red Flag in Background Checks

Contentious case likely to advance to Supreme Court

(Newser) - A case brought by workers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory could help determine a government standard for employee privacy. The rocket scientists have won a district court ruling against a Bush-era homeland security initiative that instituted background checks for all employees. The employees consider the checks not just intrusive...

Salahis Invited to Capitol Hill ... Through Front Door

Party crashers haven't been subpoenaed. Yet.

(Newser) - The House Committee on Homeland Security has asked the couple who crashed last week's White House state dinner to testify on Thursday. Tareq and Michaele Salahi have not confirmed that they will appear, and testifying could complicate their plans to auction off the story of how they infiltrated the theoretically...

Cleland Memoir Recalls Horrors of Vietnam, Karl Rove

Cleland describes how he survived grenades and Republican attack ads

(Newser) - Max Cleland may be a living symbol of dedication to country—the former Georgia senator lost both legs and an arm to a grenade in Vietnam—but that didn't stop Karl Rove's political machine from ending his political career with attacks on his patriotism. "There are plenty of reasons...

Bush Officials Deny Ridge Terror Claim

(Newser) - Members of President Bush’s administration today denied accusations by former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge in an upcoming book that the White House pressed him to raise the terror threat level ahead of the 2004 election. Former White House chief of staff Andrew Card and former homeland security adviser...

Liberty's Crown Reopens
 Liberty's Crown Reopens 

Liberty's Crown Reopens

(Newser) - The Statue of Liberty's crown reopened to the public today for the first time since the 9/11 attacks, reports the Daily News. The first people allowed up were seven US servicemen who took the oath to become citizens. Those interested in ascending the narrow staircase to the top better be...

US Fears al-Qaeda Bioattack From Mexico

(Newser) - US counterterrorism officials are worried that al-Qaeda may mount a biological attack from Mexico and could even seek to collaborate with domestic terrorists, the Washington Times reports. The fears are bolstered by a February video from Kuwait al-Qaeda recruiter Abdullah al-Nafisi. In the video, Nafisi boasted that anthrax “carried...

Obama, Tell W You're Sorry for Mocking His Policies

Prez slammed W's national security policy; now he's following it

(Newser) - President Obama’s national security policy has been surprisingly close to his predecessor’s—a policy he hammered on the campaign trail. For that, he “owes George W. Bush an apology,” writes Clive Crook in the Financial Times. But his supporters also deserve an apology. His election rhetoric...

Cheney 'Answers' Obama, Defends Bush Policy

Says he's 'firm proponent' of 'enhanced interrogation program'

(Newser) - Dick Cheney offered an “answer” to President Obama’s national-security speech today, standing up for the policies of the Bush administration and saying he remained “a strong proponent of our enhanced interrogation program,” CNN reports. “In the fight against terrorism,” Cheney said, “there is...

Cheney's 'Dead Wrong,' We're Safer: Biden

(Newser) - Joe Biden begs to differ with Dick Cheney's view that the US is less safe under President Obama. Cheney is not “out of line, but he is dead wrong,” Biden told CNN. In fact, the Bush administration left the nation in its weakest state since WWII, stretched thin...

US Agents to Aid Mexican Cartel War

Admin could announce plan as early as this week

(Newser) - President Obama is shipping agents and equipment to the border to aid Mexico's war on violent drug cartels, the Washington Post reports. His plan, to be unveiled as early as this week, aims to stop the flow of weapons and cash from the US into Mexico. Law enforcement will also...

Meet Obama's 'Beast'
 Meet Obama's 'Beast' 

Meet Obama's 'Beast'

Secret Service says 44's impenetrable vehicle is most sophisticated in the world

(Newser) - The latest limousine to join the presidential fleet is essentially a tank with a Cadillac exterior, Wired reports. The armored vehicle—code-named “Stagecoach” but dubbed “The Beast” due to its makeup—is the world’s most sophisticated car. The Secret Service and General Motors refuse to divulge specs...

Brain Looks Beyond Eyes to Recognize Faces: Scientists

New research shows that eyebrows, noses are key to distinguishing people

(Newser) - Want to make yourself hard to recognize? Get a nose job and shave your eyebrows, say facial-recognition experts, who have yet to fully understand—or agree upon—how we “see” or “read” faces. Psychologists and neuroscientists, fueled by the need to quickly and correctly identify people in the...

War on Terror Nears $1 Trillion
 War on Terror Nears $1 Trillion 
analysis

War on Terror Nears $1 Trillion

And that doesn't count long-term costs

(Newser) - Washington's war on terror is about to cost $1 trillion, and even that is just the beginning, Mark Thompson writes in Time. Three recent government reports racked up the bills, showing that long-term costs like veterans health care and interest on loans are yet to come in. The trillion-dollar figure...

US Readies 20,000 Troops Against Homeland Threats

Critics fear executive-power growth in major shift

(Newser) - After years of planning, the military will have 20,000 troops stationed inside the US ready to handle domestic crises such as nuclear terrorism by 2011, the Washington Post reports. That’s almost seven times the number of domestic-response troops 5 years ago—a move that would have been “...

Border Agents Have Right to Seize Any Traveler's Laptop

Homeland Security 'update' outlines sweeping powers

(Newser) - US border agents can seize laptop computers or other electronc devices from any traveler entering the country and keep them indefinitely, even without suspicion of wrongdoing, the Washington Post reports. A policy update released by Homeland Security, dated July 16, says agents can keep any information-storing device they please and...

EU Blasts Italy Over Gypsy Fingerprinting

Proposal to fight crime is racist and must stop, parliament says

(Newser) - Italy’s mandatory fingerprinting of its Gypsy minority is "an act of discrimination based on race and ethnic origin" and should be stopped, the European Parliament said in a resolution passed today. The assembly voted 336-220, with 77 abstentions, to condemn the practice—though the resolution is not binding,...

FBI Swamped With Checking on Immigrants

'Inefficient' process has legal aliens waiting 3 years; criminals slip in

(Newser) - The FBI’s system of background checks has forced many legal immigrants to wait years before getting into the US or gaining citizenship, the Justice Department finds. The program, deluged by more names and wider checks after 9/11, has struggled with old technology, poor training, and swamped supervisors, the Los ...

US Firms Complicit as China Fortifies Police State

'Bush would do what they are doing here in a heartbeat if he could,' expert says

(Newser) - Free Tibet protests 3 months ago allowed China to road-test a new security network before the summer Olympics, Naomi Klein writes in Rolling Stone. Under the so-called “Golden Shield,” China is now installing closed-circuit cameras nationwide linked to facial recognition and other biometric software—technology from big-name US...

US Imports its Drug-Sniffing Dogs for $4,500 Each

American breeders outraged over European preference

(Newser) - The US government purchases hundreds of untrained bomb- and drug-sniffing dogs from Europe every year for as much as $4,535 each, quadruple the price of American dogs, a new federal report says. Domestic breeders and spending watchdogs are angered by the government's penchant for expensive foreign purebreds. "What...

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